Systems and methods for improving the ranking of news articles

Abstract

A system ranks results. The system may receive a list of links. The system may identify a source with which each of the links is associated and rank the list of links based at least in part on a quality of the identified sources.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method for ranking results, comprising:
 receiving a list of objects; 
 identifying a first object in the list and a first source with which the first object is associated; 
 identifying a second object in the list and a second source with which the second object is associated; 
 determining a quantity of named entities that (i) occur in the first object that is associated with the first source, and (ii) do not occur in objects that are identified as sharing a same cluster with the first object but that are associated with one or more sources other than the first source; 
 computing, based at least on the quantity of named entities that (i) occur in the first object that is associated with the first source, and (ii) do not occur in objects that are identified as sharing a same cluster with the first object but that are associated with one or more sources other than the first source, a first quality value of the first source using a first metric, wherein a named entity corresponds to a person, place, or organization; 
 computing a second quality value of the second source using a second metric that is different from the first metric; and 
 ranking the list of objects based on the first quality value and the second quality value. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1  wherein the identifying the first source with which the first object is associated includes:
 identifying the first source based on a uniform resource locator (URL) associated with the first object. 
 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1  wherein the first source is a news source. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1  wherein computing the first quality value of the first source is further based on:
 one or more of a number of articles produced by the first source during a first time period, an average length of an article produced by the first source, an amount of important coverage that the first source produces in a second time period, a breaking news score, network traffic to the first source, a human opinion of the first source, circulation statistics of the first source, a size of a staff associated with the first source, a number of bureaus associated with the first source, a breadth of coverage by the first source, a number of different countries from which traffic to the first source originates, and a writing style used by the first source. 
 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1  wherein computing the first quality value of the first source is further based on a length of time between an occurrence of an event and publication of an article associated with the event by the first source. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1  wherein the objects include links to on-line news articles. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 determining the list of objects based at least in part on one or more of a search query, a topic, a list of one or more keywords, a geographical area, and a set of documents. 
 
     
     
       8. A system comprising:
 one or more computers and one or more storage devices storing instructions that are operable, when executed by the one or more computers, to cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising: 
 receiving a list of objects; 
 identifying a first object in the list and a first source with which the first object is associated; 
 identifying a second object in the list and a second source with which the second object is associated; 
 determining a quantity of named entities that (i) occur in the first object that is associated with the first source, and (ii) do not occur in objects that are identified as sharing a same cluster with the first object but that are associated with one or more sources other than the first source; 
 computing, based at least on the quantity of named entities that (i) occur in the first object that is associated with the first source, and (ii) do not occur in objects that are identified as sharing a same cluster with the first object but that are associated with one or more sources other than the first source, a first quality value of the first source using a first metric, wherein a named entity corresponds to a person, place, or organization; 
 computing a second quality value of the second source using a second metric that is different from the first metric; and 
 ranking the list of objects based on the first quality value and the second quality value. 
 
     
     
       9. The system of  claim 8 , wherein the identifying the first source with which the first object is associated includes:
 identifying the first source based on a uniform resource locator (URL) associated with the first object. 
 
     
     
       10. The system of  claim 8 , wherein the first source is a news source. 
     
     
       11. The system of  claim 8 , wherein computing the first quality value of the first source is further based on:
 one or more of a number of articles produced by the first source during a first time period, an average length of an article produced by the first source, an amount of important coverage that the first source produces in a second time period, a breaking news score, network traffic to the first source, a human opinion of the first source, circulation statistics of the first source, a size of a staff associated with the first source, a number of bureaus associated with the first source, a breadth of coverage by the first source, a number of different countries from which traffic to the first source originates, and a writing style used by the first source. 
 
     
     
       12. The system of  claim 8 , wherein computing the first quality value of the first source is further based on a length of time between an occurrence of an event and publication of an article associated with the event by the first source. 
     
     
       13. The system of  claim 8 , wherein the objects include links to on-line news articles. 
     
     
       14. The system of  claim 8 , wherein the operations comprise:
 determining the list of objects based at least in part on one or more of a search query, a topic, a list of one or more keywords, a geographical area, and a set of documents. 
 
     
     
       15. A computer program product, encoded on one or more non-transitory computer storage media, comprising instructions that when executed by one or more computers cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising:
 receiving a list of objects; 
 identifying a first object in the list and a first source with which the first object is associated; 
 identifying a second object in the list and a second source with which the second object is associated; 
 determining a quantity of named entities that (i) occur in the first object that is associated with the first source, and (ii) do not occur in objects that are identified as sharing a same cluster with the first object but that are associated with one or more sources other than the first source; 
 computing, based at least on the quantity of named entities that (i) occur in the first object that is associated with the first source, and (ii) do not occur in objects that are identified as sharing a same cluster with the first object but that are associated with one or more sources other than the first source, a first quality value of the first source using a first metric, wherein a named entity corresponds to a person, place, or organization; 
 computing a second quality value of the second source using a second metric that is different from the first metric; and 
 ranking the list of objects based on the first quality value and the second quality value. 
 
     
     
       16. The product of  claim 15 , wherein the identifying the first source with which the first object is associated includes:
 identifying the first source based on a uniform resource locator (URL) associated with the first object. 
 
     
     
       17. The product of  claim 15 , wherein the first source is a news source. 
     
     
       18. The product of  claim 15 , wherein computing the first quality value of the first source is further based on:
 one or more of a number of articles produced by the first source during a first time period, an average length of an article produced by the first source, an amount of important coverage that the first source produces in a second time period, a breaking news score, network traffic to the first source, a human opinion of the first source, circulation statistics of the first source, a size of a staff associated with the first source, a number of bureaus associated with the first source, a breadth of coverage by the first source, a number of different countries from which traffic to the first source originates, and a writing style used by the first source. 
 
     
     
       19. The product of  claim 15 , wherein computing the first quality value of the first source is further based on a length of time between an occurrence of an event and publication of an article associated with the event by the first source. 
     
     
       20. The product of  claim 15  wherein the objects include links to on-line news articles.